I hear footsteps pounding behind me, gaining rapidly.Steven must have overpowered Joshua.“There’s nowhere to go, Eve!”Steven’s voice echoes down the corridor, much closer than I expected.The rain pounds against the windows, thunder cracking so loudly the glass vibrates.
My lungs burn as I weigh my options.I could try to lock myself in one of the conference rooms, but he’d break through eventually.I need to get to security or find someone—anyone—who can help.
I hear the elevator ding in the distance, and my heart leaps with hope.The doors slide open, and relief fills through me as Caleb steps out, followed closely by Ethan.
I sprint toward them, the laptop clutched tightly against my chest.“Caleb!”But before I can reach them, a hand grabs my hair, yanking me backward with brutal force.The laptop tumbles from my arms, skidding across the polished floor as Steven spins me around.
“You little—” he doesn’t finish the sentence.His fist drives into my stomach, doubling me over as the air rushes from my lungs in a painful gasp.My knees buckle, and I struggle to breathe, to speak, to warn them.
“Get off her!”Caleb’s shout echoes down the hallway, raw and filled with fury.Through watering eyes, I see him charging toward us, his face transformed with rage.His usual calculated demeanor is gone, replaced by something primal and dangerous.
He doesn’t slow down as he approaches—instead, he barrels into Steven with the full force of his momentum, sending all three of us sprawling.I’m knocked free, sliding across the floor as Caleb and Steven crash into the wall.The impact is violent, and for a moment they’re just a blur of motion, grappling and striking.
“You son of a bitch,” Caleb snarls, his voice barely recognizable.He drives his fist into Steven’s face with a sickening crack.
The rest of his threat dissolves into incoherent rage as he slams Steven against the wall repeatedly.His face is flushed, eyes wild, jaw clenched so tight I can see the muscles bulging.Steven tries to fight back, but Caleb is relentless, moving with a violent precision that speaks of more than just adrenaline.He manages to pin Steven against the wall, forearm jammed across his throat.
“Caleb—” Ethan’s warning shout comes too late.Through the pain, I see Steven’s hand moving to his pocket.The knife.He must have retrieved it during his fight with Joshua.
“Look out!”I gasp, but my voice is too weak.
With a desperate surge of energy, I lunge forward as Steven pulls the blade.Caleb is too lost in his fury to notice.I shove him hard, sending him stumbling sideways—and feel a white-hot pain slice through my abdomen as the knife meant for him finds me instead.
I stagger backward, pressing my hand to my side.Looking down, I see blood seeping between my fingers, staining my blouse with an expanding crimson bloom.
“Eve!”Caleb’s voice cuts through the haze of pain, horror replacing rage in an instant.
Steven looks almost as shocked as I am, staring at the blood on the knife in his hand.He doesn’t have time for more.Ethan tackles him from the side, and they go down in a tangle of limbs.The knife skitters away across the floor.
My knees give way, and I sink to the ground, the pain sharp and insistent.Caleb is at my side immediately, his face pale with fear.
“Eve—Oh god, Eve.”His hands hover uncertainly before pressing against my wound.“Why did you do that?”
“It’s okay,” I manage, though the pain makes me wince.“I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay,” he says, his voice breaking.“You’re bleeding.”
I try for a smile, but it comes out as a grimace.“It really hurts, but I don’t think it’s that deep.”That’s a lie—it feels like fire in my side—but the fear in his eyes is worse than any physical pain.I try to change the subject.“I’m glad you found me.I couldn’t get to the lobby?—”
“When we couldn’t find you in Marketing, we noticed the security sensors picked up motion on this floor.I should have been here sooner.”He looks furious with himself.I start reaching for his face, to let him know everything is going to be alright, but I seize up from the gesture, pain shooting throughout my core.His distant gaze snaps back into focus.
“I’m going to get you to a hospital,” Caleb says, sliding one arm under my knees, the other behind my back.
“Don’t move her.”Ethan’s authoritative voice cuts in as he appears beside us, Steven now restrained by security guards who arrived from somewhere.“She could have internal damage.Wait for the ambulance.I’ve already called for one,” he adds, kneeling down beside us.He shrugs off his suit jacket and folds it, pressing it against my wound.“Keep pressure on it.”
Caleb takes over, his hands steady now despite the wild look in his eyes.“Just hang on, Eve.Help is coming.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say, gritting my teeth against the pain.“Takes more than a corporate spy to get rid of me.”
He almost laughs, but it sounds more like a sob.“Don’t joke.Not now.”
“The laptop,” I remember suddenly.“Where’s the laptop?”
“Forget the laptop,” Caleb says fiercely.
“No,” I insist.“It has proof.Emails.File transfers.Everything we need to nail him.”
Ethan stands up.“I’ll get it.You stay with her.”
